255. “For there is a certain place, etc.” For there is a certain place in Gehennom for those who desecrate Shabbatot. Those who are being punished in ‎Gehennom curse the one who lights the candle before its time arrives, telling him, “Behold, the Lord will hurl you up and down with a man’s throw etc. He will violently roll and toss you like a ball into a large country” [Isaiah 22:17–18]. ‎

Explanation: There is a certain harmful spirit called Evil-eye and he loves cursing, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “He loved cursing, and it came to him; and he did not delight in blessing, and it is far from him” [Psalms 109:17]. When a person curses himself, he gives strength to this Evil-eye one, who loves cursing, and [that harmful being] rules over [the person], and [the person] thus inflicts harm upon himself.

[The Zohar] continues: “One ‎who throws bread or crumbs that contain an olive-bulk.” There is nothing in this ‎world that does not have an important root above. This is certainly true of bread, upon which man’s ‎life depends. Thus, it has a very important root above, and consequently one who treats his bread with disdain ‎impairs the root of his life above. This is only obvious to all people during a meal that provides satisfaction, which ‎gives him life. ‎ However, with regard to bread and crumbs that only contain an olive-bulk, some people treat them with disdain ‎and throw them away, because they do not [have a quantity to] satisfy. But since the Sages were stringent and required one to recite Grace after Meals even for [as little as] an olive-bulk, they [too] must be considered like a satisfying meal and it is prohibited to treat them with disdain, and one who does so inflicts harm upon himself. ‎

The idea is as follows: The Sages have taught [Berakhot 20b] that the ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, it is written in Your Torah, “[The great, mighty and awesome God] who favors no one and takes no bribe” [Deuteronomy 10:17], and yet You show favor to Israel, as it is stated: “The Lord shall show favor to you” [Numbers 6:26]. He replied to them: But should I not show favor to Israel? For I wrote to them in the Torah: “And you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord your God” [Deuteronomy 8:10], and they are exacting with themselves [to recite Grace after Meals even for as little as] an olive-bulk or an egg-bulk. This [source teaches] that in merit for [our] scrupulousness over the size of an olive-bulk, to consider it a ‎satisfying meal, we merit that the Lord will show favor to us, ‎even though we are unworthy. It follows that those who treat crumbs the size of an olive-bulk with disdain ‎and do not regard them as a satisfying meal will not merit the Lord’s favor, and ‎they inflict harm upon themselves (see the Zohar, Re’aya Mehemna Parashat Pineḥas, p. 231, section 600). ‎

[The Zohar] continues: “one who lights the candle etc.” One who lights the candle upon ‎the conclusion of Shabbat before Israel reach the [prayer of] Kedusha De-Sidra causes the fire of Gehennom to be kindled with that flame [of the candle]. [This is because] until that time it ‎is Shabbat, and the sanctity of the Shabbat rules over [Gehennom] (as stated below), and the fire of Gehennom does not yet rule, just as on Shabbat. But one who lights the candle before Israel [recites] the Kedusha De-Sidra is considered like a Shabbat ‎desecrator, for he lights the fire of Gehennom before its time, and thus he inflicts harm upon himself. ‎ “For there is a certain place in Gehennom for those who desecrate Shabbatot,” since desecration of ‎the Shabbat is the most serious [of sins]. Furthermore, “those who are being punished in ‎Gehennom curse” him for what he has caused ‎through his actions, to light the fire of Gehennom before its time. ‎